A New Start
by Classicgurl123
Summary: four years after the series ended, Dave and Julie have just celebrated their 34th, following the characters as they continue with life!
1. Chapter 1

Julie looked at wall of photos in her and Dave's house that they had got after they returned from their road trip four years earlier, the house was about the same size as their other house, with plenty of room for what seemed to be thier continuely growing family. She and Dave had just celebrated their 34th wedding anniversery, this year had been espically special since for once all their children had been there, and all thier grandkids. Rachel and Jake had gotten married in the same month that they had arrived back from their road trip, and now had nine month old twins, Mila Grace and Marcus Tyler, Rachel had also got an executive position at an advertising company back in Sydney. Once Ben had came back from overseas, he had gotten back in contact with Donna, and basically had picked back up from where he had left off at the boat club, and had been recently asked by Donna to partner with her in managing the place, along with that he had got a small apartment near the boat club, wasn't much but just big enough for him, he and Emma had never got back together when her and Buzz had started dating and getting serious, he had never got back into a relationship, but was fine with being the cool Uncle. It had now been three years since Carbo and Retta had gave birth to a beautiful and healthy little girl, Sadie Rose, and where now expecting their second child in just a couple of months, and along with Ben's uncle duties, he was also the godfather to their children, Carbo had gone back into the landscaping business with Emma and Retta, and while it had been slow at the beginning it had really took off in the last couple years and was now a rapidly growing business. And as for Nathan, to no suprise about a year after he and Edward had moved back to Sydney, he and Saskia had gotten divorced, Edward was now a thriving three year old with plenty of energy to spare, and after a couple years of Sammy coming back to the states for good her and Nathan had started out as good friends that had blossomed back into a relationship, and as everyone had seen coming, had got married again within the last few days , it wasn't a formal ceremony like the first time, they just had a simple ceremony by the water near the boat club, however everyone was convinced that they were just not meant to have a honeymoon since on the night after the wedding Nathan had got appendicites, and had just got out of the hospital the day before and was still at home recuperating. And along the lines of weddings and engagements, Coby had popped the question to Frankie a couple months earlier and of course she had accepted. But the year was not all good, as five months before, after a long battle with dimensia, Ted had passed away. And as for her and Dave, they kept plenty busy between Dave still running his business with Frankie, Coby, Matt and Jake still working for him and now Sammy who was the book keeper, and she was just enjoying being a grandmother and still being a mother to Ruby who was now eight years old and taking care of her grown children when they needed her, both the offical and unofficial , and since she didn't work she enjoyed having a full house as she watched all the kids during the day while their parents where at work.

As she comes out of her thoughts she hears a cry come out from the other room, she recognizes Mila to be the source, though knowing if she was crying that Marcus wouldn't be to far behind as she gets up to go into the room where they are napping

"What's wrong darling?" She says as she picks Mila as she sways her back and forth in her arms trying to calm her down, as she glances over at Marcus who is still asleep as she takes a sigh of relief that she doesn't have to calm them both down "Let's see if a bottle will make you feel better" she says as she carries Mila out and into the kitchen

"Mum, Edward won't give me Mel back!" She hears Ruby yell from her room, at first it had thrown everyone off, espically Ben when she had said something about Mel as though she was there, till they realized she had named the doll that she had recieved for her first birthday that Mel had ordered before she was killed in the car accident

Just then Edward comes busting out of Ruby's room running with the doll that clearly had seen better days, but was still Ruby's faviorte as Ruby comes running out behind him "Give her back" Ruby yells out again as Sadie comes running behind her trying to go as fast as her little legs will carry her

"Hey what's going on?" Julie says as she looks down at her oldest grandson as she warms up Mila's bottle

"They're not letting me play with them nanny" Edward says whining as he looks up Julie

"Well how about this, you give Mel back to Ruby, she is very important to her" she says still making sure she has his gaze "And then you can help nanny feed Mila and we can watch a movie before nap time"

"Okay" Edward says as he gives the doll back to Ruby as he runs into the living room as Ruby and Sadie run back into her room

"Hi Julie" Sammy says as she comes through the kitchen door a while later wearing running gear

"Sammy!" Edward says as he comes squealing through the living room into the kitchen as he runs into Sammy's open arms, they had decided when Nathan and Sammy had started getting serious again that Edward should just keep calling her by her first name instead of calling her mum, they figured they at least owed Saskia that little respect

"There's my big guy" Sammy says as she lifts Edward up into her arms "Have you been good for nanny?" she says smiling at him as she starts to tickle him as he lets out a squeal

"He's been fine" Julie says as she gives Edward a kiss on the forehead as he continues to laugh in Sammy's arms "How's Nathan?"

"He's fine, though I don't think you can keep him down very long, I found him in the bedroom this morning with his laptop open and on the phone trying to get donations" Sammy says looking at her in disbelief

"Yea that's my son, the go-getter, even if he did just get out of the hospital yesterday" Julie says looking at her "y'all should be enjoying a few days to yourselves right now and yet here you are"

"Somehow the universe is still trying to tell us not to take the honeymoon, maybe we would have a better chance of just having a weekend away when Nathan feels up to it" Sammy says looking at her "You know I really feel like it's all going to be alright this time, we've both grown and matured alot, and Nathan basically gives a look of disgust anytime I mention real estate, the music industry or anything to do with gambleing"

"Yea before we left on our holiday, trying to find a place, we asked him to talk to the real estate agent for us and I thought he was going to get sick" Julie says looking at her

"It's amazing what changes come in a few years" Sammy says smiling at her "But your definatly the best one" she says looking at Edward

"Can we go see Uncle Ben now?" Edward says looking excitedly looking at Sammy, a couple times a week Sammy would take Edward to the boat club to see Ben when he worked the evening shift, for the main reason to let Nathan get caught up on some work

"Yea we're getting ready to go, just be patient for one minute" Sammy says giving Edward a look

"Oh one more thing before you go, since Nathan is still recovering, do you want to have the weekly dinner at y'alls place tommorw night, I can cook the food here and bring it over" Julie says as Sammy grabs Edwards things to get ready and leave, every week they had a meal where everyone got together

"Yea it's fine with me, I'll have to run it by Nathan but i'm sure he'll be fine with it to" Sammy as she heads toward the door with Edward "Tell nanny bye"

"Bye nanny" Edward says as him and Sammy start out the door as Julie smiles at them as they head to the car

"Uncle Ben, Uncle Ben!" Edward says as he runs into the boat club, startling Ben who is standing behind the bar concentrating on something on the clipboard as he looks up to see his nephew busting through the resturant

"Hi Buddy" he says coming out from behind the bar as Edward runs into him is he bends down nearly knocking Ben over "What did nanny give you today, a whole bar of chocolate"

"Well whatever she gave him, it's going to be fun getting him to go to sleep tonight" Sammy says as she walks up behind him

"I have something to ask you for tommorw, do you want to come with me to send Aunt Mel some flowers off and then we can spend some time at the beach" Ben says looking at him, on certain occasions he would take Edward out to the ocean and let him scatter flowers across the water in honer of Mel "And maybe if your good you can spend the night with me tommorw night"

"Sammy can I" Edward says turning around to give Sammy a pitful look he almost perfected to make any of them crack

"We need to ask your dad first" Sammy says trying not to crack "But before anything how about we get some food in you"

"Well I finally got him asleep" Sammy says as she walks into her and Nathan's room where Nathan is already laying down in the bed with his laptop pushed off to one side "And hows my other big kid feeling?" she says as she kicks off her slippers and climbs into bed

"I'm feeling good now" Nathan says as Sammy slides over closer to him "whoever makes pain meds really know what their doing"

"Well I do have a couple things to ask while your still half with me" She smiling at Nathan who she can tell is trying to focus in on what she is saying "Your mum wants to know if we want to have dinner over here tommorw night and Ben wants to know if Edward can hang out with him tommorw and spend the night with him"

"Yes to both" Nathan says as he slowly dirfts the rest of the way to sleep till Sammy can finally hear him snoring before she curls up to go to sleep


	2. Chapter 2

"Sorry I know I'm late" Ben says as he runs down across the beach in swim trunks and a tee shirt with his shoes in his hand as he comes up on Sammy and Edward who are sitting near the edge of the water "the evening shift manager was running late so I had to cover for him for a little while"

"it's fine we were just relaxing wern't we Edward" Sammy says smiling at Edward

"Uncle Carbo gave me some flowers" Edward holding a sand bucket up with some flowers scattered in it

"Did he arrange them for you too?" he says looking in the bucket at the flowers "That looks like some of his best work" he says laughing as Sammy shakes her head at him "So you ready to go?" Ben says looking back at Edward

"Yea" Edward says excitedly as he stands up as Ben extends his hand for him to take as they start to head towards the boats

"I'll see you two later" she says as she stretches out on her beach towel "I'll just be here relaxing" she says with a smile putting her sunglasses back over her eyes

"Yea I'm coming" Nathan says later as he walks down the hallway over to the door as he lets out a yawn as he opens the door

"How are you feeling darling?" Julie says as she walks in first giving Nathan a hug

"I'm feeling better then I have been, I took a pain pill and layed down earlier, didn't realize how late it had got" he says rubbing his eye "I'm not sure if Sammy and Edward are back yet"

"Well I'm back" Sammy as she's the last one to enter the apartment behind the rest of the family "Ben decided to take Edward for pizza before taking him back to his place, I came back while you were asleep and took his night things over" She says kissing Nathan on the cheek

"So who's hungry" Rachel says as she gets the table set as smiles up at everyone standing in the living room

"I am as long as you didn't cook it" Nathan says with a grin, purposly trying to get a rise out of Rachel

"Haha since when are you the comedian of the family" Rachel says looking at him, as he and the rest of the family join them at the table

"And we thought they would outgrow messing with each other the older they got" Dave says looking over at Julie "If you two are done let's eat up"

After dinner as Nathan and Sammy finishing seeing everyone off, as they close the door after the last person Nathan looks at Sammy "We don't have a kid to take care of tonight, don't know what to do now"

"I might have an idea" Sammy says giving him a suspicous grin "technically we were supposed to be on our honeymoon"

Soon after Nathan and Sammy are relaxing in a bubble bath "This was a good decision" Nathan says as he leans his head back against the tub as he wraps his arm around Sammy

"Yea I do have those every once in a while" Sammy says looking at him as Nathan lets out a laugh as she takes a sip of champaign "You remember the last time we did this"

"Your never going to let me live that down are you" Nathan says taking a sigh as he looks at her

"Oh just the time that you broke into the rental property, and we got caught in the bathtub by your boss, and you ended up losing your job, is that the time your refering too" Sammy says looking at him

"Yea, I messed up, I was young and stupid" Nathan says looking at her "things were definatly different back then"

"This time we're in it for keeps though" Sammy says smiling at him "And I love Edward just as much as I love you, but I'm sort of glad Ben has him tonight, gives us more time together"

"Yea just us and the splish splash gang" Nathan says refering to where Edward's bath toys are scattered all around

"Well I think I can take your mind off of them" Sammy says as she slides over closer to Nathan as she starts to kiss him as they start to get more passionate Nathan suddenly lets out a yell "Not a good idea yet"

"No not yet, not till my insision spot heals up more" Nathan says as he tries to relax again

"So I noticed earlier today, and maybe it's nothing but Ben seemed a little distracted when he met us" Sammy says as they settle back down in the bathtub

"Yea now that you mention it he has been acting weird the last couple days" Nathan says looking at her "did he mention why they took flowers to scatter today"

"No he didn't" Sammy says looking at him "But they normally just take them out on special occasions, their wedding date, Mel's birthday and" Sammy stops herself relizing what the occasion is as she turns around to Nathan who has a knowing look on his face

"And the anniversery of Mel's Death" Nathan says with a blank expression on his face

"I almost forgot about that this year" Sammy says looking at him "that explains why he's been trying to keep himself busy, why he's been taking the extra hours at the boat club and why he's been offering to watch Edward

"It's hard to believe how long ago it's been" Nathan says looking at Sammy "But you know this is our time, we'll deal with the Ben issue later, how about we get out of here and do something else we can't do with Edward here"

"What were you thinking?" Sammy says looking at him

"Maybe get out, and watch a movie that's not a cartoon" Nathan says looking at Sammy

"Wow your a crazy man" Sammy says laughing as she gets ready to get out of the bathtub

"Oh yea crazy's my middle name" Nathan says with a laugh as he follows Sammy out of the tub


	3. Chapter 3

"White Chicks never gets old" Sammy says letting out a laugh sitting on the couch as Nathan is laying across her lap

"Yea even after what one million times" Nathan says readjusting himself on the couch

"Hey you know it's one of my faviortes" Sammy says looking down at him

"Well it was your time to choose, but next time were watching something get blown up" Nathan says smiling a sleepy smile at her

"Let's get you to bed sleepy" She says as she helps Nathan to sit up as she gets off the couch and start heading towards their bedroom "I wonder how Ben and Edward are coping"

"Well at least we know Sadie doesn't have the same feelings as Retta about junk food" Ben says as him and Carbo stand in the doorway to the kitchen at his apartment "She just inhaled a cookie"

"You know their little kids Benno" Carbo says looking at Ben "I think Edward has inhaled a few cookies himself"

"Are you sure it's a good idea letting them eat all of this, we are the one's that have to take care of them tonight" Ben says looking at Carbo

"Yea it's fine you just need to put a little more trust into me" Carbo says smiling at Ben

"Uncle Ben" Edward says the next morning as he moves over closer to the side of the bed where Ben is sleeping "Uncle Ben" he says again trying to shake Ben

"Hum" Ben says as he starts to wake up "Morning Buddy" he says as he opens his eye's seeing Edward hovering over him "What time is it getting to be" he says as he rolls over to look at his bedside clock as his eye's widen "oh no"

"I am so late" Ben says later as he comes running through the living room where Edward is sitting on the couch he makes sure he has everything before he starts to head out the door, before turning around realizing Edward is still in the apartment "Okay come on big guy" he says as he picks up Edward before running back out the door

"So that was all I have, I don't know if Ben had anything to add or not but since he's not here" Donna says as she sits around the table surronded by the boat club staff, wrapping up a staff meeting

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I know i'm late" Ben says out of breath as he runs up to the table carrying Edward in under his arm

"So what happened to you this morning?" Donna says later as her, Ben and Edward are sitting on the balcony at a table

"Late night" Ben says as he takes a sip of coffee "involving sugar" he says as he glances over towards Edward

"So i'm guessing when I was going to offer a free cookie" Donna says as Ben shakes his head no as he looks over where Edward is now playing at the game table to make sure he's not in earshot

"Not till Sammy picks him up on her lunch break anyway" Ben says taking another sip of his coffee "let them deal with it, i didn't realize how much a little kid could kick in bed, espically hyped up on sugar"

"Hey Grandpa!" Edward says running into the office that they now worked out of for the company as Sammy closes the sliding door close at the back enterence

"There's my big guy!" Dave says as he turns around from his desk as he lifts his grandson up onto his lap "What are you doing here?"

"I went to take him home, but Nathan was resting so I figured instead of bothering him, I would just bring him here"

"Well that works for me" Dave says looking at Edward bouncing on his lap "means we get to spend more time together, and I'm sure the rest of the staff won't complain much either"

"Frankie, can we color another picture?" Edward says giving Frankie a pitful look later after their done with work for the day

"Well I think it's about time to go" Frankie says as she lifts the little boy into her arms off the floor as Sammy gathers up her and Edwards things

"Yea, come on buddy let's go home and see how Daddy's doing" Sammy says with a smile as she takes Edward from Frankie

"Hey I have an annoucement before everyone leaves" Dave says walking in front of everyone as he can see that their all gathering their things to leave "Tommorws the planning meeting"

"Planning Meeting?" Coby says as he walks up behind Frankie putting his arm around her

"Oh yea" Sammy says looking at Dave "When there's a birthday or party coming up in the family, we always get together to discuss it before hand"

"Yea and Ruby is turning nine, but that is still a month away, why are we having the planning meeting this early?" Jake says as he walks over to Frankie and Coby

"You'll find out tommorw" Dave says smiling at him ""So tommorw right after work, does that work for everyone?" Dave says looking around as everyone agrees to it 


	4. Chapter 4

"So Rachel and Frankie have took Ruby out on a run with them" Dave says looking at their living room where everyone else is sitting except Ben who had to work

"What's this big birthday plan?" Nathan says looking at him with a curious look

"Well you remember that wireing job we did a few months ago, for the Jacobs" Dave says looking in the direction of Coby and Jake "Well they've offered for us to use their mountain house for a few days in the Blue Mountains, and I thought we could make it a birthday present to Ruby and it would give the family a chance to be all together"

"I have a question, are you sure you want Ruby on a mountain?" Nathan says referring to that Ruby had inherited Ben's daredevil streak, along with his sense of humor

"Well at least she is extremly organized in the stunts that she comes up with" Sammy says jokingly since Ruby had also got Nathan's organization skills

"Y'all are hilarious" Dave says giving them a look "But yes we're sure, that's the reason that we wanted to have the planning meeting this far in advance that way everyone can plan to be off of work"

"And before we leave Ben has also offered that we can have a party at the boat club so that some of her school friends can celebrate with her as well" Julie says as she sits down beside Dave

Meanwhile, Frankie and Rachel are trying to catch their breath while Ruby is standing in front of them

"Come on let's go" Ruby says she runs in place, she had definatly gained her families running habits,  
which wasn't a bad thing except she could outrun all of them

"Ruby just take a breather" Rachel says while still trying to catch her breath, looking at her sister who clearly had her patients and persistance

"How about we do something else now" Frankie says since her and Rachel are clearly done with running

"Yea we can go over to the boat club, maybe get a snack" Rachel suggest waiting to see Ruby's reaction

"Okay, and I can get a free cookie there" Ruby says as she takes off in the direction of the boat club followed by Frankie and Rachel

"So what does it look like now" Donna says as Ben walks past as she is working on some napkins

"Still looks like a napkin" Ben says looking up from the clipboard "what is it supposed to be?"

"A swan" Donna says looking disappointed at the table where she's been folding the napkin "I just can't seem to get it right"

"Well you could help me with the inventory if you want a break from that" Ben says giving her a look

"Hey Benji" They hear coming from the enterence of the club

"Hey Little Bit" Ben says as he looks up from the clipboard, his youngest sister was the only one allowed to call him that

"What's going on over here?" Frankie says as her and Rachel join Ruby where Donna and Ben are standing at the table

"I'm trying to make a swan out of the napkins but I must have made a wrong fold somewhere" Donna says looking at the crumpled napkin

"Well I can give it a go, being with Coby i've picked up a few things about art" Frankie says as she picks up

"And I can help too" Ruby says as she walks over to the table standing beside Frankie

"Well I need to go down to the celler and count the stock down there" Ben says with a sigh "I've been working here since high school, still hate taking inventory"

"I can come help count" Donna says being able to tell Ben's fustration "I'm leaving the napkin's to you girls"  
she says looking at Frankie and Ruby as Rachel sits down at the table

"If my little sister can fold those napkins, then what does that say about us" Ben says jokingly as he and Donna walk towards the celler

A month later...

Everybody surrounds a bright eyed Ruby in one of the reserved rooms at the boat club as she fixes to blow out the candles on her birthday cake

"What did you wish for darling?" Julie says smiling at Ruby as she finishs blowing out the candles

"It wouldn't come true if I told you" Ruby says smiling up at her mum

"You know she's right" Rachel says smiling as she wraps her arms around her sister's neck "Happy Birthday little sister" she says planting a kiss on her sisters cheek as Emma laughs as she takes a picture of the two

"Rach stop it your embarressing me" Ruby says trying to wiggle her way out of her sisters grip

"Hey we're the siblings it's our job" Ben says as he comes around to the other side of Ruby wrapping his arms around her as well laying his head on top of hers

"I can't breathe" Ruby says making a face as her siblings let go of her laughing

"And speaking of embarressing your siblings" Ben says giving a mischevious grin "there's one more suprise for you little sis, come on prince charming" he says hitting the wall behind him

Just then a disgruntle Nathan comes through the door wearing a prince charming outfit within the theme of Ruby's princess party carrying Edward who is in a frog costume "Remind me to kill you later" he says looking at Ben who is trying to contain his laughter

"Aw that is adorable" Ruby says looking at her brother and nephew as Nathan gives her a look "Can I have the frog?"  
she says as Nathan hands Edward to her as the party continues

Over the next couple hours Ruby has a blast with her school friend's as her family and family friend's oversee the rest of the party

"I wonder if this is the year" Coby says after a while as most of Ruby's school friends have started to leave

"the year for what?" Frankie says looking cautiously as Coby just smiles as Ben stands up and walks over behind Ruby

"Can I have everyone's attention" Ben starts as everyone turns to look at him "Now that our sis is nine we think this is the year it's time for another birthday tradition" he says as Nathan walks over next to him smiling

"Oh yea the Rafter Plung" Rachel says walking over to join Ben and Nathan, as a sibling joke when each of them had got old enough they would take the youngest and throw them in the ocean, sort of an inciation as it were

"No" Ruby says as her siblings come closer to her "No way" she says as Ben lifts her up into his arms "put me down" she says trying to get out of her siblings grasp as they carry her out of the room "mum help"

"Sorry darling it has to be done" Julie says as her and Dave laugh, at one time they had worried about how close Ruby and her siblings would be as big of an age gap they had between them, but they were all very close to each other


	5. Chapter 5

"Who's idea was it to leave at 6:30 in the morning?" Ben says a few mornings later as everyone gathers outside of the rafters house

"You look wrecked mate" Carbo says as he walks over beside Ben followed by Retta holding a sleeping Sadie

"Yea well I had to fill in at the boat club, didn't get to sleep till late" Ben says looking back at him

"Yea Edward was the easy one to get ready this morning" Sammy says as she looks over at Nathan who lets out a yawn before giving her a look

"At least you just have Edward" Rachel says as her and Jake are standing by their car "Had two to get ready"

"I don't know why they call this morning, this is the middle of the night" Coby says leaning aginst Julie's car with Frankie standing beside him

"Sorry I'm late" Matt says as he runs across the lawn carrying a coffee "I overslept"

"Don't worry about it, we're still waiting on Dave, Julie and Ruby to get ready" Frankie says looking at him

"Okay I think we finally have everything" Julie says as she brings some more things out to put in the car

"And I have sleeping beauty" Dave says as he carries Ruby out who is asleep on his shoulder "Just another thing she gets from her siblings" Dave says looking at his older kids that have never liked mornings

"So the plan is Frankie and Coby ride with us and Ruby, Rachel and Jake are taking their car with the twins, Nathan and Sammy are going to take Edward in their car, and then Ben, Matt, Carbo, Retta and Sadie are in Ben's car" Julie says looking around at the group

"And I thought Carbo was bad at giving directions" Ben says pulling up to the mountain house later as he looks at Matt in the passenger seat

"You know I take offence to that" Carbo says giving Ben a look "I've never got us that lost" he says as Ben gives him a look "Well maybe close to it"

"And I said I was sorry" Matt says turning to look at Ben

"Well we're here now" Retta says breaking them up as she is already out of the car as she is getting Sadie out "look at this place, and I thought our house was big"

"I can honesly say i've never stayed in a house this big" Jake says as he comes back downstairs from where him and Rachel come downstairs from where they've been exploring the house

"Yea you need more client's like the Jacobs" Julie says smiling at Dave as she holds Mila in her arms

"I agree, now let me see that beautiful granddaughter of mine" Dave says as he takes Mila from Julie

"Where have you guys been?" Nathan says looking up from where he is watching Edward play with Marcus who Nathan is holding on his lap as Sammy is sitting on the couch beside him as Ben and Matt walk through the door followed by Carbo and Retta with Sadie

"Ask Matt" Ben says as he puts down some bags before going back out the door to get the rest of their things

"So what are the sleeping arrangments going to be?" Sammy says looking at Dave and Julie as soon as everyone is in the house

"Well there's five bedrooms" Dave says looking at them "So Julie and I will take one, Nathan and Sammy can have one with Edward, Coby and Frankie in one, Retta and Carbo in one with Sadie, and Rachel and Jake in a room with the twins"

"I get the feeling we're getting ready to get the shaft" Ben says looking at Matt as he stands next to him

"And there is a sofa bed down here, and we have a couple air matresses" Dave says giving Ben a look from his last comment

"If it's okay Ruby can stay down here too" Julie says looking at them

"Yea that's okay" Matt says as he lifts Ruby up onto his shoulders "We're going to party" he says as Ben goes in to tickle Ruby

"And speaking of partying" Jake says looking at them


	6. Chapter 6

"You want to have the bucks night tonight, here" Coby says looking at the guys as they are sitting in the bedroom that he and Frankie are staying in

"Why not, we're all hear together" Jake says looking at them "And I'm sure there's plenty to do around here, besides about the time we get back to sydney it's going to be time for the wedding"

"Yea we passed some of the pubs on the way up here, a few miles back" Matt says looking at them "Could take a cab into town"

"I don't know guys, what about the kids?" Nathan says looking at them

"They'll be fine, it's not like the girls won't be here with them" Ben says shotting Nathan a look

"Rachel already knows about it, and she's fine with it" Jake says looking at them "And I'm sure Sammy, Retta and Frankie will be fine with it"

"But Retta is really close to having the baby, and I don't really like leaving her" Carbo says giving them a look

"Aw come on, you guys are turning into old men" Jake says walking up behind Carbo and Nathan "I'm a dad too and I'm the one that's planning it"

"Well that settles it then" Ben says as he can see that Carbo and Nathan are out of excuses

"This is going to be great, all the boys together again" Coby says smiling at the guys

A while after the boys have left the house Frankie and Sammy are sitting in the living room with Ruby when Rachel and Julie pop around the corner as Retta follows

"Who's up for a girls night" Rachel says as she grins at them "To celebrate the upcoming wedding"

"The little kids are all nice and tucked into bed, and Ruby you can even party it up with us" Retta says smiling at her

"Yea we got Dolphin Tale and October Sky, both good movies and appropriate for all ages" Julie says smiling at them "And Dave has offered to take care of the kids"

"And" Sammy says reaching over the backside of the couch as Ruby smiles "We have nail polish and facial kits"

"So all of you were in on this" Frankie says looking around at all of them "Well lets get it started" she says with a smile

Later that night the house is dark as the boy's come stumbling through the door, clearly off their faces

"That was awesome" Coby says aloud as they enter the house

"Yea it was!" Jake says even louder coming through the door

"Shhh guys your going to wake the kids" Nathan says before giggling putting his head into Jakes shoulder

"Think of the children" Ben says smiling before falling into Nathan

"Hey where did Carbo go?" Matt says as he looks around at them then back out the door

"I'll go find him" Ben says as he starts to go back out the door, still sporting a big smile on his face

As the next morning comes around the boys escapade's from the night before aren't as exciting

"So how was the bucks night?" Frankie says rolling over in the bed as she puts her hand on Coby's back

"I died" Coby says as he opens his eyes trying to focus on what's around him "You're a widow before you were even married"

"So that good huh" Frankie says as she slaps Coby's back as she starts laughing getting up out of bed

"Okay buddy why don't you go downstairs and find nanny" Sammy says as she opens the door for Edward to run out of their room

"Nathan" She says as she bends down beside Nathan who is laying facedown on the floor "Honey, your on the floor"

"No I'm not, I'm in the bed" Nathan says as he continues to lay on the floor

"I think you missed it by a few feet" Sammy as she helps to roll Nathan onto his back "You want me to help you actually get in it?"

"No just leave me here" Nathan says looking up at her

"So how are you feeling?" Rachel says as she bounces Mila around in her arms in her and Jakes room

"Like someone knocked me in the head with a rugby bat" Jake says from where he is looking at her as he sits on the side of the bed "which possibly could have happened last night"

"I'm pretty sure it's just a hangover" Rachel says as she leans over to give him a kiss on the head "You feel up to helping me with Marcus?"

"Yea I got him" Jake says as he gets up and walks over to where Marcus bassinet is

"Well at least your's actually made it upstairs last night" Retta says as she looks at Sammy "cute aren't they" she says as they look down at the sofa bed where Carbo and Ben are cuddled together facing each other

"Yea from what I've seen it must have been a pretty wild night, Nathan didn't even have the energy to get into bed" Sammy says looking at her

Just then Carbo slowly opens his eyes he lets out a yell as he sees Ben causing Ben to jolt upright

"Stop your yelling over there" Matt says looking at them from where he is laying on the air matress grasping his head

"Oh my head is killing me" Ben says as he lays back down on the couch

"Mine too" Carbo says as he leans back against the couch beside Ben "What happened last night?"

"I wish I could remember" Ben says looking over at Carbo "Where's Rubs at?" he says refering to where he and Ruby are sharing the bed while Matt is on the air matress

"She came crawling into bed with Sadie and I at about one this morning" Retta says looking at them "Something about y'all knocking her off the bed"

"I think you're just going to need a big vate of grease for each of them" Rachel says meanwhile as she puts Marcus in his high chair beside Mila as Ruby is playing with Edward

"Oh that kind of night huh" Julie says smiling at Rachel as she goes back to cooking breakfast

"Yea that kind of night" Sammy says laughing as she walks into the kitchen "I'm going to take Nathan some pain pills, I just got him into the shower"

"Well I'll fix a nice greasy breakfast" Julie says turning back to the oven "You can hand out the pain pills to the others as well"

"My head still hurts" Nathan says sitting on the couch with Carbo and Ben as he holds Edward on his lap as they watch TV

"Yea mine too" Ben says as he rubs his head "What about you Carbo?" he says before realizing that Carbo is asleep between them

"Hey Benji" Ruby says as she runs into the living room and over to the couch

"Hey Rubs" Ben says as he pulls his sister up onto his lap "What's going on?"

"The campout" Ruby says looking at Ben as he gives a confused looked "You promised we could go camping tonight"

"Yea right, we can do that" Ben says looking at her "And Edward can come with us too if he wants"

"And Nathan can come" Ruby says excitedly as Nathan gives them both a look


	7. Chapter 7

"Okay do we have everything?" Ben ask from inside the tent they've pitched in the backyard where Nathan, Edward and Ruby are

"How exactly are we going to make this work, four people in a two person tent" Nathan says giving Ben a look

"Move over and I'll show you" Ben says as he crawls into the tent zipping it up as him and Nathan continue to argue

Later the night everyone is sleeping peacefully in the tent, Nathan and Edward are curled up close together, Ben is laying in the middle with Ruby laying close to him on the other side just then the enterence and Carbo climbs in and on top of Ben "Benno wake up" Carbo says in a panic as he starts to shake Ben

"The whole climbing on top of me was cute when we were six, not now" Ben says trying to move Carbo off him

"The baby's coming" Carbo says trying to wake Ben up further

"That's not for a couple weeks" Ben says looking at him as he can see the panic in Carbo's face

"What's going on?" Nathan says rolling over half asleep and confussed

"Retta's in labor, the baby's coming" Carbo repeats again for Nathan to hear "We have to get to the hospital" he says stumbling out of the tent as he runs back towards the house as Ben and Nathan start to get their shoes on and getting Ruby and Edward before following Carbo inside

"I knew he wouldn't make it the whole night" Sammy says tiredly as Nathan brings Edward into their room laying him on the bed beside her

"No everything was going fine" Nathan says pulling on a pair of jeans "Retta's gone into labor" he says looking at her as he puts on his shoes

"Wait is she okay?" Sammy says as she sits up on the bed "Do you need me to come with you?" she says looking at Nathan as he grabs a jacket

"No you just stay here with Edward, it's not going to do any good for everyone to wake up to come, not yet" Nathan says as he goes over and kisses Sammy before leaving the room "Ben and I are going with them and I'll call you with any updates, but if you can bring Sadie in here with y'all"

"Yea I'll go get her" Sammy says as she gets up following Nathan out the door as she heads toward Carbo and Retta's room

"She's so beautiful" Retta says later as she holds her newest daughter in her arms as she smiles up at Carbo who is sitting on the edge of the bed

"Just like her mom" Carbo says looking up at Retta before looking down at his daughter smiling at her

"You said the same thing when Sadie was born" Retta says looking jokingly up at Carbo as he rest his head on her's

"Yea because it's true" Carbo says looking at Retta "All three of my beautiful girls" Carbo as he leans in to give Retta a kiss

"Okay so we have coffee" Ben says as he and Nathan walk back into the room as he hands a cup of coffee to Carbo and one to Nathan

"And Sammy is on her way with Sadie" Nathan says as he takes a sip of coffee as he looks at Carbo and Retta

"Carbo, might have invest in that shotgun now that you have two daughters" Ben says smiling at Carbo "So does little miss have a name yet"

Retta and Carbo exchange a look before turning to Ben "Well we were thinking of naming her Melissa, after Mel" Carbo says looking to see what Ben's reaction

"I think that's a great idea" Ben says after a couple minutes of taking in what Carbo just said "And when she's older, I'll tell her all about the wonderful person she's named after" he says with a smile

"Well then it's settled, her name is offically Melissa Kyle Karandonis" Retta says smiling down at the baby girl in her arms


	8. Chapter 8

"So what does two pink lines mean?" Ruby says looking over Sammy's shoulder a few months later as Sammy sit's on the bed staring at the pregancy test in front of her, Julie and Dave had gone away on a trip for a couple days, so Sammy and Nathan had voluntered to keep Ruby

"Um well" Sammy says still in an initial shock as she trys to find the words "It means your going to be an aunt again"

"Really?" Ruby says excited as she continues to look over Sammy's shoulder "I can't wait" the girl says as she continues to smile

"Ruby, you can't tell Nathan about this okay" Sammy says cautiously as she looks at Ruby before turning back around to the pregancy test "Not till I get a chance to talk to him"

"Anyone here?" Rachel yells as they hear the door to the house open "we're ready for party planning"

"Yea we're in here" Sammy says as she trys to hide the pregancy test as Rachel and Ben step into the doorway of their bedroom

"Yea I had to bring Melissa with me" Ben says holding a now seven month Melissa in his arms as the little girl lets out a giggle "Carbo and Retta took Sadie to a friends birthday party"

"What's going on?" Rachel says looking along with Ben at Ruby and Sammy who are now acting suspicious

"I'm going to be an aunt again" Ruby says not being able to contain her excitment as Rachel gives her a wide eyed look as Ben almost drops Melissa from hearing the news as he too gives a wide eyed look

"Ruby!" Sam as she also flips around to give the girl a look, except her's is more of a fusterated look

"You said not to tell Nathan, their not Nathan" Ruby says coming back as she tries to defend herself

"Okay someone needs to start explaining" Rachel says as her and Ben continue to stand in the doorway looking at them

"This" Sammy says as she pulls the pregancy test out from under the pillow on her side of the bed as Rachel and Ben walk over to the bed as Ruby takes Melissa from Ben

"How long have you known about this?" Rachel says as she takes the pregancy test from Sammy as she looks at it

"Does Nathan know about it?" Ben says as he burst in between the two girls as he gives Sammy a questioning look

"I just found out myself, and no he doesn't know and I would appreciate if you just keep it to yourselves for right now" Sammy says giving them a look "I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for tommorw and then I'll know for sure"

"So I guess we know how that weekend away went now" Ben says as Ruby and Melissa had left the room as Rachel pops him in the arm and Sammy gives him a look

"Well mum and dad are really sorry but their not going to be home in time for Nathan's party" Rachel says refering to Nathan's birthday in a couple days

"Well I hate their going to miss that, but what is the plan exactly?" Sammy says looking at them

"Well first plan is to play footie at the beach" Ben says looking at them "Since playing footie is one of Nathan's faviorte things"

"And then we can have a picnic at the beach" Rachel says smiling at Sammy as Ben's phone starts to buzz

"I got to take this" Ben says looking at his phone letting out a sigh "It's the boat club" he says as he walks out of the room

"So how are you thinking about telling him?" Rachel says as she looks at her "Which if you want me to I can come with you tommorw I can, Jake has took a couple days off to help with the twins since their still not feeling good, I can just see if he can watch them again"

"Well their putting the blood work on express delivery so I'll know tommorw night, so I had thought maybe after the party" Sammy says looking up at Rachel with a hopeful look "And yea that would be great, it would be nice to have some support there" she says as Rachel smiles at her

"I'm sorry I have to bail, but I have to go to the boat club" Ben says coming in interupting the moment

"You've been working basically everyday haven't you?" Sammy says as she looks up at him "You need to take some time off for yourself"

"Yea you told me you had to pull a double yesterday, that's alot of work Benny" Rachel says also looking at Ben

"Your not telling me anything I don't know, Donna sick right now so i'm the one that's having to do everything" Ben says putting his phone back in his pocket "Plus we have a new bar manager that's having trouble getting the hang of things, but it'll be fine and after Donna gets better i'm hiding in my apartment and resting for a week" he says as the two girls smile at him

"Well as long as you can still make it to the party" Sammy says as her and Rachel continue to look at him

"I wouldn't miss it" Ben says as he starts to walk back towards the living room "I can take Ruby off your hands for a little while if you'd like, I have to take Melissa to the boat club with me, and that will give her someone to play with"

"Yea that will be good" Sammy says looking up at him "And we can finish getting everything planned here"

"How was your bath?" Nathan ask a couple nights later as he lays on the bed as Sammy comes into their bedroom "maybe I should have joined you"

"Is your back still sore?" Sammy says as she sits down on the bed "I can give you a back rub if you want"

"Yea that sounds like a good birthday present right now" Nathan says as he pulls off his tee shirt in preperation for the back rub

"But you had a good birthday though right" Sammy says continuing to sit on the bed as Nathan rolls over onto his stomach

"Yea other then being the one to get clothesline by both Ben and Carbo, and Jake and Coby falling on top of me while playing footie" Nathan says from where he is laying

Sammy takes a breath for a minute before reaching out to grab a box out of her nightstand with a nervous look on her face

"What are you doing?" Nathan says not moving from where he is laying, as he's getting slightly impatient waiting on the back rub

"I have another birthday present for you, well sort of" Sammy says as she is still holding the box

"Well what is it?" Nathan says as he pushs himself up onto his side as he looks at Sammy

"Um this" She says as she hands the box to Nathan as he opens she waits for a reaction

"Are you serious?" Nathan says as he holds the pregancy test in his hand as he looks up at Sammy "This is great"

"Really?" Sammy says relieved at Nathan's reaction, as Nathan pulls her in to give her a kiss

"Correction on the back rub, this is the best birthday present" he says as they share another kiss "Does anyone else know?"

They jump as they hear Ruby slam her hands against the door "Did you tell him yet?" they hear the girl say from the other

Sammy lets out a laugh at Ruby's reaction "Except for her" Sammy says as she looks down where Nathan is looking up at her "And Ben and Rachel" she says as Nathan smiles burying his head into Sam's shoulder

"I think she's a little excited" Sammy says still grining "It was a true struggle for her to hold out telling you"

"Well I'll go put her back to bed before she wakes up her Nephew" Nathan says as he slowly gets out of bed almost forgetting about his sore back

He opens the door to see an anxious almost ten year old standing in front of him "So do you know?" Ruby says as she looks at Nathan standing in front of her

"Yes I know" Nathan says jokingly as he starts to tickle Ruby as she takes off down the hall with Nathan following close behind her

Sammy smiles as she hears Ruby squealing from down the hall as she hears Nathan laughing, sometimes she was envious have been an only child, watching not just the relationship that not just Ruby and Nathan shared, but that all the rafter siblings shared even with Ruby being so much younger then her brothers and sister

"I got her back to bed" Nathan says coming back into the bedroom with a grin on his face as he tries to catch is breath as he closes the bedroom door as he walks back over the bed "So where were we?" he says climbing back on the bed moving close to Sammy

"What about your back?" Sammy says as Nathan pulls her down onto her back as Nathan climbs on top of her as she grins

"I'll worry about it in the morning" Nathan says giving her a mischevious look as they start to kiss each other

"Sammy, Daddy" They hear a little voice say at the door just as their getting more intiment

Sammy looks at Nathan as he let's out a groan of fustration as he lays his head to the side "So much for not waking Edward" she says as Nathan looks at her "I'm guessing it was yours and Ruby's wrestling match that did it"


	9. Chapter 9

"Do you realize your son already has a plan for what to do before I go to the hospital?" Sammy's sitting at Julie and Dave's table as she holds Edward on her lap

"Well you know as well as I do that he likes to have a set in stone plan" Julie says laughing as she brings a couple cups of tea over to the table

"Yes I know but it's still eight months away" Sammy says laughing as she looks at Julie giving her an amused look

"Okay, and maybe a little obsessive with it" Julie says as Sammy gives her a look "Okay very obsessed" she says with a smile

"So did anything interesting happen at dinner last night, we would have been here, but Nathan had a less then perfect day at work and came home in a bad mood, so I figured being around people probably wasn't the best idea" Sammy says looking at Julie

"Daddy was mad" Edward chimes in as Sammy looks down at him before looking back up at Julie

"We all also know about Nathan's meltdowns so that's understandable" Julie says giving Sammy a knowing look "And well now that you mention it, and I should let Coby and Frankie tell you this, but there's going to be another addition to the family"

"Oh my goodness, really?" Sammy says excited as she looks at Julie "How far along is she?"

"She is about a week behind you" Julie says smiling at her "It's just so exciting, seeing the family growing more and more"

"I know, when I was growing up I always imagined what it would be like to have a big family, and now I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful son, and a baby on the way" Sammy says smiling at her "And of course all of you" she says as Julie smiles back at her

The next morning Ben is asleep as he hears his cell phone going of on his night stand as he rolls over grabbing it as he sees Emily's name on the display, he had met Emily three months earlier, she was a girl that Emma and Retta had met in a yoga class, and after much coxeing they had convinced Ben to go out with her, even though they had ended up going on a triple date, since then Emily and Ben had really hit it off as had Emily with the rest of the family, and just a couple weeks earlier they had offically started dating, she had also been working at the boat club as bartender for a few weeks now "Babe" Ben says still half asleep "time is it" he manages to get out, now that Donna was feeling better he was taking full advantage of his first day off in a couple weeks

"I'm sorry, I woke you up didn't I" says a girl with her light brown hair pulled into a side braid with hazel eyes and a tan complection standing behind the counter at the boat club "It's early, almost nine"

"What's going on?" Ben says as he starts to pull himself up into a sitting position using the bed post as leverage

"You need to come to the club" Emily says as she looks at a girl standing in front of her

"Why, it's my day off" Ben says grumbling as he lays back down on his pillow "Donna is supposed to be coming back today"

"Can you just come for me, please" Emily says as she begs into the phone "It's important"

"Fine" Ben says as he finally gives in as he pulls himself out of bed "Give me 20 minutes okay" Ben says as he hangs up his phone and starts to get ready

As Ben walks into the boat club later wearing shorts and his sleeveless tee shirt as he see's Emma and Emily standing behind the counter

"What's going on here?" Ben says as he walks over to them "What are you doing here Emma, shouldn't you be at work?"

"I don't have to be there till later, so I dropped in for breakfest and I told Emily I'd help her with some of the breakfest rush" Emma says looking at Ben

"That's a real professional look that you got going on there" Emily says picking about what Ben is wearing

"This is all I had that was clean, today's wash day" Ben says as the girls give him a look, as he realizes he had some attitude in his last statement "I'm sorry i've just been overstressed and overtired, and someone waking me up for reasons she still hasn't told me"

"Well why don't you tell us and then we'll all know" Emily says giving him a suspicious look as Emma follows with a similar look behind her

"What are you talking about?" Ben says giving them a similar look as Emily and Emma look back into the resturant

"Ben" He hears a voice say from behind him as he turns around to see a face from years before

"Lexi?" Ben says looking in disbelief as he looks at the girl standing in front of him "What are you doing here?"

"Well you didn't have to act so suprised to see me" Lexi says later as her and Ben sit at one of the tables outside

"To be fair, it is a little suprising since the last time I saw you if memory serves, you were storming down the stairs fliping me off" Ben says giving Lexi a look

"Yea I'm sorry about that, my life was sort of a mess back then" Lexi says as she gives him an innocent smile "But how's Mel doing, she was a big help there right at the end before I left"

Ben face sank a little bit, he truly felt that he had moved on from Mel but still when he heard her name, he still missed her "Um Mel was killed in a car accident a little over three years ago"

"Oh I'm so sorry Ben, I was away I didn't know" Lexi as she gives a shocked look to Ben

"No it's fine, it took a while but i'm better from it now" Ben says giving her a reassuring look "so what is it that you wanted?"

"I know my past track record isn't the best, but I was wondering if there are any openings" Lexi says with a hopeful look

"Well I need to talk to my partner Donna before I make a decision, but I'll do what I can" Ben says smiling at Lexi

"What was that all about?" Emily says as Ben comes walking back over behind the counter as Emma stands behind her

"Long story I'll explain it to you later" Ben says looking at the girls "So y'all are still coming to watch the footie game at mum and dad's tonight right?"

"Yea, I might be late though, my shift doesn't end till later" Emily says walking over as she gives Ben a side hug

"Of course we'll be there" Emma says refering to her, Buzz and Jackson "that's all Jackson's been talking about"

"Okay great, well now that everything seems settled here I'm going to go lay down for a while longer" Ben says looking at them "Plus if your mom gets here, i'm not getting roped into working"

"Oh Ben there you are" Donna says as she walks in as she starts to walk over to where the girls and Ben

"Yea I actually have to go" Ben says as he starts to race through the door as Donna gives him a look

"But Ben I was going to see if you wanted to" Donna starts continuing to look at Ben as he walks toward the door

"Nope" Ben says as he continues out of the club as Donna turns around to look at the girls who are smiling at Ben's reaction


	10. Chapter 10

"Take him for all he's got" Ben says yelling at the tv as he sits in the living room

"Don't do that get the ball you idoit" Nathan says yelling from where he is sitting on the couch behind Ben

"Get it, get it, get it!" Ruby yells pleading as she looks at the tv sitting between Ben and Jake, as the rest of the guys let out remarks under their breath

Meanwhile in the kitchen Retta, Sammy and Frankie look on at the crowd in the living room, a look of disbelief on their faces "They do realize that the players can't actually hear them through the TV right" Frankie says finally speaking up

"Sometimes I wonder if they do" Sammy says looking at the two "Sometimes I think that Nathan acts like the coach when he watchs the games even at home, if Edward turns out to be half as passionate about footie as he is, I really hope the baby is going to be a girl"

"Well apperently that doesn't mean that she wouldn't be just as passionate, I think Ruby's almost louder then the boys" Retta says looking at Sammy

"Yea I used to think it would be fun to have a sister to do all the girly stuff with" Rachel says as she walks into the kitchen, handing off Melissa to Retta as she holds Mila in her other arm "I think though with the choice between going to a mall and playing footie in the backyard, she picks backyard footie every time" she says smiling at them

"Speaking of kids, I think your son is enjoying being the ring leader of the Sadie and Marcus while Ruby is watching the game" Julie says with a laugh as she follows behind Rachel into the kitchen

"So this is where you got to" Emma says smiling as she walks into the main hallway where Emily is looking at the wall full of photos surrounding the four photos of the kids when they were little

"Yea I was just taking a look at all the photos, I hadn't got a very close look at them yet" Emily says as she continues to smile at the wall "Ben was so cute when he was little" she says pointing to the big framed picture of Ben

"Julie's told me before that he was around seven when that photo was taken" Emma says smiling as she looks at the picture "I think Julie is starting a small photo gallary out here, there's some photos on the other wall too" she says as her and Emma turn around to face another wall with pictures from all the kid's weddings plus Carbo and Retta's and Frankie and Coby's

"Is that Mel?" Emily says homing in on a photo of Ben and Mel on their wedding day that's hanging on the wall along with the rest

"Yea it was" Emma says smiling as she looks at the picture as she puts a hand on Emily's shoulder

"She was really beautiful" Emily says as she looks at the picture "Ben never talks about her much"

"Well from what I've heard she was a pretty amazing person, we went to a dress party one time just a few months after the accident, it was a saint and sinners theme and I wore a nurses outfit not knowing that Mel was a nurse" Emma says looking at her before continuing "When he and I were dating I always tried to convince myself that everything was fine between us but deep down I think it was always obvious that he still needed time to heal" she says looking over at Emily who she can see has an unsure look "But he's come a long way since then, when he came back from overseas, he was a completly different person, Mel is always going to be a part of him, but I've seen the way you two look at each other and I know that your both very happy together" she says as Emily smiles at her

"Here comes another one" Julie says looking at Donna about a week later as the kitchen door opens and Ben comes in

"Mum, I don't feel good" Ben says looking at Julie as he walks over toward her and Donna "And I think I know where I caught it from" he says looking at Donna

"Ben" Julie says in a scolding tone as she looks at him "I'm sorry, he gets cranky when he doesn't feel good" she says looking at Donna "Now go in the living room with the rest and I'll come check on you in a little while" Julie says as she motions Ben toward the living room

"With the rest?" Donna says giving Julie a confused look as Ben walks toward the living room

"Oh my kids have this weird sibling bond thing where, if one gets sick everyone gets sick" Julie says looking at Donna "Rachel, Nathan and Ruby are already in there"

"Or it could just be a coincidence" Donna says looking at Julie "I mean if Ben caught it from me and then he's been around them"

"Well I used to think that, till they all got sick at the same time in four different places" Julie says taking a sip of tea

"Your kidding" Donna says looking at her in disbelief as she takes a sip of her own tea

"Well one morning when they we're all overseas, I woke up to Ruby running a fever, Nathan called from London with a stuffed up head, Ben called from Berlin complaining about his stomach, and then Rachel called from New York coughing up a lung, turns out they all had the same thing wrong" Julie says looking at her "Oh and who can forget the great flu epidemic of '94"

"Hey Julie, how were the girls today?" Retta says as she walks in the kitchen door later that afternoon

"Oh they were perfect" she says as she walks into the other room as she comes back with Sadie and Melissa "It's the four in the living room that have been a pain" she says smiling as she hands Melissa to Retta as Sadie puts her hands around her mum's leg

"Still not feeling good are they" Retta says giving Julie a sympethtic look as she rubs Sadie's head

"Not feeling good is an understatment, more like acting like their dying" Julie says giving a look to Retta "I can understand Ruby needing me when she's sick, but you would think that my 32, 34 and 36 year olds could take care of themselves"

"We heard that" Nathan says as he walks into the kitchen bringing back some dishes over to the sink, and Julie looks around to smile at him

"It's not our fault that your so good at taking care of us" Rachel says she follows into the kitchen behind Nathan

"And you always make the soup that we like when we're sick" Ben says following his brother and sister into the kitchen

"Well as long as your better by next week" Julie says looking at them as all three put dishes in the sink

"What's going on next week?" Retta says as she walks back into the kitchen from collecting the girls things

"Grandma Chel is coming" Julie says smiling at Retta and then looking back at her kids


	11. Chapter 11

"Grandma Chel!" Ruby says as she comes out of her room as the front door opens the door as Julie steps into the hallway from the kitchen

"Hello Princess" Chel says as Ruby runs into her almost knocking her off balance as Dave follows in behind her with her bags, Chel had always had a special bond with her youngest granddaughter, since she had been in her life since she was born, while her other three grandchildren had grown up before she met them

"Hi Chel, how was your flight?" Julie says as she walks down the hall following her daughter as she gives Chel a hug

"It was fine" Chel says as her and Julie pull apart "A two hour flight is nothing compared to the ones I use to take from India" she says referring to her flight from Queensland where she had lived since she had came back from India almost two years earlier

"So how is everything going with you Grandma?" Ruby says grining at Chel before looking back to see Julie giving her a look "What I want to catch up, it's a study break"

"What's going on?" Chel says looking at Ruby and then at Julie knowing something is up

"I have to finish up a reading list over school break" Ruby says as she gives a disgruntle look, starting in the new school year she would be attending the same private school as Nathan, being just as devoted to building herself up just like her brother

"Well I tell you what, why don't you go work on you reading list and i'll catch up with you at dinner with your brothers and sister, and i'll give you the gift I bought you" Chel says as Ruby lets out a groan before turning around walking back to her room

"So how is everything going with the rest of my grandchildren, Nathan and Sammy?" Chel says looking at Dave and Julie "Do they know the sex of my new great grandbaby yet?"

"Sammy and Nathan are doing well, and yes you are going to have another great granddaughter" Julie says as she gets up from the table taking their coffee mugs over to the sink "which Edward is convinced is a comspericey since he and Marcus are out numbered to the girls"

"Oh I've missed him, of course those precious twin's as well" Chel says smiling at them before getting up to help Julie empty the dish washer

"Well those twins are keeping Rachel and Jake pretty busy" Dave says getting up from the table to join Julie and Chel "And you will get to see them all tonight at dinner"

"Does that include Emily?" Chel says giving Julie and Dave a suspicious look, as they had mentioned Emily in emails on occasion

"Yes you'll get to meet Emily" Julie says smiling at her "And Ben's really came a long way, I havn't seen him look the way he does at Emily since Mel died"

"Well I'm just glad that he's happy, I don't say it very often but that's all I want for them and I can't wait to meet her" Chel says smiling at Julie

"So do you have any names picked out yet?" Chel says later as she sits on the couch with Sammy and Nathan as Edward giggles as he sits on her lap

"Well we're between Maddison Julie Rafter or Isabelle Harper Rafter" Sammy says looking at Chel "though we're leaning towards Maddison"

"Nanny personaly like's Maddison Julie the best" Julie says as she walks by the couch "Nathan are you okay?" she says noticing Nathan looks a little distracted

"Yea I'm fine, it's just been a long day" Nathan says looking at Julie giving her a reassuring look

"I finally got done with my reading for today" Ruby says coming into the living room as she flops into a chair near the couch

"You know sometimes I wonder what she got from me, but there I am" Nathan says with a smile as he puts his arm around Sam as he looks at Ruby "Sis I hate to break this to you, but it only gets worse, I was a nervous wreck by my last year"

"Your not helping" Ruby says giving her brother a look as Sammy also gives Nathan a look

"But I mean, it was all worth it in the end" Nathan says looking at them as he trys to defend himself

"What hole have you dug for yourself this time?" Rachel says as her and Jake come into the living room with the twins as Rachel leans over to give Chel a kiss on the cheek noticing Ruby and Sammy still looking at Nathan

"I didn't dig myself a hole, and besides it's not important" Nathan says looking at his older sister as he brushs off the situation

Later the family is sitting around the dinner table as the door opens followed by Emily coming into the kitchen holding Melissa "Sorry we're late, we had to work later" She says as she takes a breath "Carbo and Retta send their apologies, Carbo got the chance to go to a big car show for a couple days so they just made a trip of it, so we have the girls for a couple days"

"That's fine Emily, this is Ben's Grandma Chel" Julie says as Emily and Chel greet each other "So where's Ben at, and Sadie?"

"Their right behind me, but just a heads up Ben didn't have a great day at work so I wouldn't do anything to tick him off" She says as she puts Melissa down as she sits down at the table "It was Lexi's first day back at the boat club too"

"Oh Lexi wasn't the main reason for my day being bad" Ben says walking into the kitchen with Sadie as he leans over to give Chel a kiss on the cheek "But it didn't help that she not picking back up on the job very quick"

A little while later as everyone is finishing their food Chel speaks up "So while everyone is together I have a bit of news" she says as she gets concerned looks at first, with her family knowing about her past medical issues "No it's nothing bad, it's actually really good news, I've decided to sell my house in Queensland and move here" she says smiling as she continues "In fact I've already found a place"

"I didn't know you had been to see any places around here" Dave says looking at her as he stands up to start clearing some of the dishes

"Well I havn't, I teed it up from Queensland, I made an offer on a place and it's been accepted" Chel says looking at Dave and then back at the rest

"From working in real estate, you can't always go by what's on the internet" Nathan says looking at Chel "It's really better to see the place first hand"

"Well I've actually already been in it" Chel says as they all give her a confused look around the table as she hands Dave the real estate paper as Julie lets out a gasp looking at it

"What is it?" Ben says as they look at the three in curiosity

"It's our old house" Julie says looking at them "But what about the other owners?" Julie says as she gives Chel a curious look before looking back at the sheet of paper

"Well from my understanding, apperently the father got a job in another city, so they had to move" Chel says looking at them "And it has plenty of room, for everyone, and for those great grandbabies who I fully expect to see often"

"I knew we hadn't seen the last of that place" Rachel says as everyone starts celebrating Chel moving back, and her purchase of the house


	12. Chapter 12

"How much more stuff is there?" Nathan says letting out a sigh as Ben walks through the door to their old house a couple weeks later

"To much" Ben says giving Nathan an equally exhausted look as he brings some more boxes into the house

"See I just don't get who would think that was a good color for that room" Julie says as she walks back into the living room as she inspects what's changed in the house

"Okay I get it your upset about the changes and" Dave says as he starts to open the door to the garage "Wait what did they do to the garage"

"Who's upset now?" Julie says giving Dave a grin as she joins Chel back in the kitchen as she helps her pull things out of boxes

"Okay we're back" Rachel says as she opens the door as Ruby runs in the house throwing her bookbag off to the side "Jake's helping the guy's with the rest of the box's, and the twins are next door with Retta,  
the girls and Edward"

"You guys lived here for 30 years and I don't remember there being nearly these many boxes when you moved out" Carbo says walking in "How's it going neighbor?" he say's smiling at Chel

"Are you sure you still want to do this knowing that information" Ben says following in behind Carbo overhearing the conversation "It's not to late to turn around and run" he says jokingly as Carbo gives him a look

"Well clearly Chel is the world traveler" Jake says bringing another box in sitting it down "she has alot of souvenir's"

"Okay that's the last of the boxes" Nathan says as he sits the boxes down on the floor before leaning against the wall behind him

"Well that's great darlings, but you still have the rest of the furniture to get in" Julie says as the boy's give her a look of disbelief "It's coming in a seperate truck" she says taking a sip of tea

"Well you know you could help us" Ben says looking at Dave who is standing in the kitchen with the three women and Ruby

"Sorry mate, still having back issues from the other day" Dave says smiling at Ben as the boy's start to head back out the door

"Where are Matt, Coby and Buzz at, their supposed to be helping us with this too" They hear Jake say as they walk back outside "So how about this outfit" Rachel says turning her laptop to Ruby who is sitting beside her on the couch "It's a bit different then the last one"

"Um I don't know" Ruby says looking at the laptop, her and Rachel had their differences when it came to cloths as they where trying to find some more school outfits for Ruby "I think I liked the last one better" Ruby says looking at her

"That's what you said about the one before that" Rachel says starting to get a little uptight towards Ruby

"Well I'm sorry, lets just look at the next one" Ruby says talking back in almost an equally stern tone

"Oh I feel a sister fight a brewing" Ben says as he sits in a chair near the couch as he looks across where Nathan is sitting in another lounge chair on the other side of the coach

"Well as long as we don't have to help, I don't want to move to help break it up" Nathan says leaning further back in his chair as he takes a sip of beer

"We're not fighting!" Ruby and Rachel say together looking at their brothers before turning back to each other

"So where have Sammy, Frankie and Emma been this afternoon, I saw Sammy and Frankie when they got off work but not since then

"We're right here" they hear Sammy yell as they come through the front door, as the girls walk through into the kitchen with shopping bags

"We got Ruby some new things for school" Emma says as her and Frankie put the bags their carrying on the table

"Maybe she'll like yours better then my suggestions" Rachel says again giving a look to her little sister

"So how was your first week at school" Frankie says as she walks over and sits on the other side of Ruby on the couch, as Dave, Julie and Chel walk over into the living room

"It was really good, I made several new friends and my teacher's are really nice" Ruby says looking around at everyone

"Well as long as none of those friends are like Oliver" Rachel says with a sneaky smile as she glances over at Nathan as Sammy is giving him a shoulder massage

"And as long as the school doesn't do to you what it did to Nathan, took him 21 years to get his head out of his bum" Ben says looking in the same direction as Rachel and now where Ruby is looking at Nathan

"Okay, okay I get it, but I thought we were talking about our little sisters first week of school" Nathan says trying to deflect the attention off of him

"Where are the rest of the boys at?" Emma says looking around the room for Jake, Coby and Buzz

"Their already next door fixing supper on the grill" Ben says as he looks up at her "Emily is coming later too,  
she had to work a double today"

"Who's ready for dinner, we got burger's, hotdogs, french fries with all the fixins" Carbo says stepping into the kitchen as the rest get up to follow him 


	13. Chapter 13

"Oh just let me get one more" Julie says smiling into her camara as Sammy and Frankie stand smiling on the beach behind their beach house that they had decided to take a holiday at "Oh just let me take one more" she says as the girls hold their now very pregant bellies to each other comparing the sizes they had decided to take family pictures that day

"Coming through" she hears Ruby yell out as she comes running by her with a football tucked under her arm as she kicks some sand in the direction where Retta, Rachel and Emily are sitting on the beach watching the kids play on a blanket nearby

"Hey don't mess up your dress" Julie yells out as Ben, Nathan, Carbo, Coby and Jake run by chasing her

"No!" Ruby yells out as Ben and Nathan catch her hoisting her up as they carry her back down the beach

"Do y'all mind changing if your going to play footie" Julie says looking at the three in a scolding tone

"I'll race you to the house" Ruby says as she frees herself from her brothers grasp as she runs toward the house, followed by Ben and Nathan along with the other guys

"You know I can't believe that in a few short weeks that little Noah and Maddison are going to be here in just a couple weeks" Julie says smiling as she turns back to Frankie and Sammy

A few days later Ben is up early sitting on the side of his bed as he looks over at Emily who is still asleep and then turns back around focusing in on his own thoughts, no matter how many years went by this day would always be a challenge for him, it would be nine years that night since he had lost Mel in the car accident, and while the days following had become a blur over the years he would never forget that sinking feeling when Nathan had shown up at the hotel, he had moved on but he still couldn't help but think about it, he let a tear escape before hearing a ruffleing of the sheets behind him

"Ben" Emily says as she moves closer to Ben, being forewarned by Retta and Carbo the previous day what today was and that Ben may be acting strange, she sees a few more tears escape from Ben, who is obviously off in his own thoughts "Come here" she says pulling Ben back into reality as she embraces him in a hug

"I'm glad your here" Ben says as he continues to hold Emily tighter in the hug

"I want to come with you today" she says referring to Ben taking the flowers out on the water in honor of Mels memory, as Ben looks up at her "If that's okay, I want to do it for you"

"Yea that would be good" Ben says as he tries to regain his thoughts "I have to go to the boat club this morning, but if you want to meet me down at the docks after that" he says as he smiles back at Emily

While the anniversary of Mel's death hit Ben hard, on this day it was also remembered by the rest of the family, and they were on high alert if Ben needed them

Nathan sat at the kitchen table staring at the wall as Sammy walks down the hall "Hey honey, do you know where Edward's" she begins to say before seeing Nathan sitting at the table "What's wrong?"

Nathan looks up at Sammy "I was just thinking how it's been nine years" he says as he continues to look at her, being the first one to find out that Mel had been killed, and then having to break the news to Ben, his brothers face that night was an image that he would never be able to forget "hard to believe isn't it"

Sammy puts her arm around Nathan's shoulder "I know, it's one of those things that you never forget" She knew while they focused in on Ben on this day, and while Nathan would never admit it, the day brought back the memories for him as well "Are we still having dinner at your parents tonight?"

"Yea as far as I know" Nathan says looking at her "I'm fine" he says noticing Sammy is still looking at him concerned "Well lets go finish getting Edward ready" he says as he gets up from the table

"So how has Benny held up today?" Rachel says later that evening standing in the kitchen with her mom as Julie pulls something out of the oven

"I haven't heard anything from him today" Julie says looking at Rachel "I made all of his faviorte foods though" she says as she places the dish on the table

"Hello" Ben says as he and Emily walk into the house and walk into the living room where everyone is gathered

"Darling" Julie says as she gets up to give him a hug, pulling back as she gives him a concerned look

"I'm fine mum" he says as he picks up on the concerned look on his mum's face "I am" he says as the rest of the family looks at him

"Did you send the flowers off today?" Carbo says from the couch where he is holding Melissa on his lap, trying to break the silence

"Yea, Emily and I both went to spread them" Ben says as he starts to say as he continues to look at everyone in the living room

Everyone looks back at him with a look of surprise, since Mel's death, in the past few years when he had gone out on the anniversery of her death, Ben had always gone out on his own wanting to have time between just him and Mel

"So how did today go?" Retta says after dinner, as her, Rachel, Emma, Emily and Ruby had decided to go for a walk

"To be honest it was kind of full on" Emily says as she looks at her "there where a few times that he just blanked out to anything going on"

"Yea your the first person he's ever took out there with him" Rachel says looking at her

"Yea we've never known what he does when he goes out there" Ruby says as she comes up beside Emily trying to catch up with the girls "That's always been considered just Ben and Mel time"

"On the first anniversary he was overseas, but on the second anniversary he came back into the boat club afterwards for a shift and his eyes were red and puffy, I always assumed that he just went out there and broke down" Emma says looking at Emily

The girls continue to talk as Emily gets lost in thought, she felt special in a way that Ben had trusted her enough to take her out there, only knowing her for a few months, when not even his own family had ever been out there with him

Later that night Ben walks in Ruby's room as she sits on her bed with a textbook open, she closes it as she notices Ben walking across the room "Just wanted to come say goodnight" Ben says as he sits at the end of her bed "Emily and I are getting ready to go"

"All this school work is about to drive me crazy" Ruby says as Ben laughs at the face she is making

"Well you were the one that choose the private school" Ben says as he continues to smile at her "you still have those huh" he says as he looks at a wall full of pictures, where there is a picture of Mel holding Ruby in the hospital when she was first born, and one about a month before the accident of her and Ben playing with Ruby

"Yea I have those" Ruby says leaning over her bed to grab something "And I still sleep with this" she says as she pulls the doll Mel had ordered for her

"This thing has definitely seen better days" Ben says as he takes the doll from her "I remember giving you this doll, she would have loved seeing how you've grown"

"You tell me that all the time" Ruby say's as she jokingly grins at Ben "I'm getting ready to go to sleep though" Ruby says as she leans foward giving Ben a kiss on the cheek

"Okay" Ben says as he helps Ruby as she starts to get under the covers "Get in there" he says as he kisses Ruby on the forehead before turning off her lamp and closing the door


	14. Chapter 14

"Thanks for coming tonight" Ben says as he cleans up the bar at the boat club as Jake and Coby are sitting on bar stools nearby "it was ladies night for friend finders tonight, and I needed some backup, since I think I got my butt pinched by at least six little old ladies last time"

"Hey you know anytime that there is free beer involved, i'll be here" Coby says smiling at Ben

"Yea, just a few perks of you being the manager" Jake says as he also smiles at Ben

"It's good to know where I stand with you" Ben says as he gives a joking look to his cousin and brother-in-law "only like me for the free beer"

"give me a beer" Nathan says as he walks in, sitting down at the bar next to Jake and Coby "It's been a long day" he says as he takes a sip of beer as Ben hands him a glass

"Well guy's it's been a while but I think this actually be some form of a boy's night" Ben says with a shocked look on his face

"Yea boy's nights are a rare thing now, with kids and all of that" Jake says as he takes another sip of his beer "You know i'm suprised that you guys aren't home freaking out over Frankie and Sammy being so close to their due dates"

"Yea like Carbo when Retta went into labor with Melissa, basically throwing himself into the tent on top of us" Ben says as he continues to clean

"I'm not that worried" Nathan says as he and Coby both look at Jake and Ben "their not due for a couple more weeks"

Sammy wakes up and looks over at the clock where it is about four in the morning, she then looks back and smiles as she sees Nathan passed out in bed beside her as she gets up to go to the bathroom as she walks into the bathroom she notices her pajama bottoms are wet before going as quickly as she can back into the bedroom feeling the sheets on her side of the bed as her eyes widen, she then sits back down on the bed as she starts shaking Nathan "Honey wake up"

As soon as she shakes him, Nathan shoots up in the bed "What" he says before he starts to ease back down before looking over at Sammy "What's going on?" he says as he tiredly rubs his head

"It's time" Sammy says as she gives Nathan a look as he still looks confused at her "the baby"  
she says trying to make it clearer

"that's not suppose to be for a couple weeks" Nathan says with a suprised look on his face as he looks at her

"Well I don't know what to tell you but she's coming now" Sammy says as she gives him a look back

"Okay, well let me call Ben, he brought me home from the boat club and I'm not ever sure i'm under the limit" Nathan says as he grabs his cell phone "And i'll call Carbo and Retta and see if they can watch Edward"

Sammy looks at Nathan as he starts to dial his phone, knowing he is now running on adrenaline "As long as you don't forget me"

"Still calmer then Carbo" Ben says as Nathan opens the door to him as he holds Edward with Sammy behind him "how is it that all your kids are born in the middle of the night" he says as they head out the door

"Yes her name's Sammy Rafter" Nathan says as he stands at the nurses desk as she hands him a clipboard,  
as he turns to go to the waiting area Frankie and Coby come bursting through the door "You go to be kidding" he says as he looks at them

"Does this look like the face of someone who's kidding?" Frankie says in an irritated tone as Nathan looks at her and then back at Coby "Can we get some help over here" Frankie says in the direction of the nurses station

"So your not going to believe this" Nathan says as he walks back into Sammy's hospital room where her, Ben and now Dave and Julie are waiting in, dropping Ruby off at Carbo and Retta's as well "Frankie and Coby are here to, Frankies gone into labor"

With both Sammy and Frankie both progressing rather quickly, within a couple hours both Noah and Maddison where born

"You are just the sweetest thing" Julie says as she carries Maddison around the room as Sammy lays in the bed nearby smiling with Nathan beside her trying to stay awake since the adrenaline from earlier is wearing off

"Hey everyone" Carbo says excitedly as he walks into the room followed by Retta with Ruby, Edward and their girls

"the calagary has arrived" Retta says as she walks further into the room as she picks Melissa up

"Is that her?" Ruby says as she walks over to Sammy who is now holding Maddison again "She's gorgeous" she says as she sits down on the edge of the bed as Sammy hands her Maddison

"how about you buddy?" Nathan says looking at Edward who is sitting on Julie's lap "You want to meet your new sister" he says as Edward runs up to Nathan as he picks him up "That is if Aunt Ruby ever gives her back"

"Oh hush" Ruby says as she gives him an annoyed look "I just got her and i'm going to get my cuddles in"

"Where's Ben at?" Carbo says as he looks around as he plays with Sadie and Melissa who are surronding him

"He went home to get some sleep" Julie says looking at him "He worked a double yesterday, then was here this morning till after Maddison and Noah were born, Emma and Emily where helping to cover for him at the boat club this morning"

"How are Noah and Frankie doing?" Retta says as she is sitting on the end of the hospital bed where she has now took Maddison from Ruby as Edward looks over her shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of his sister

"Their doing great" Coby says as he walks into the hospital room with a big smile on his face as he holds Noah in his arms

"Oh another baby let me see him" Julie says excitedly as she walks over taking Noah from Coby's arms

"She's just a little excited" Dave says as he walks over to the other side of the room to give Coby a hug

"Just a little" they hear a fimilar voice come from the doorway turning around to see Matt standing in the doorway holding baskets in his hands, one for Maddison and one for Noah, to everyone's suprise Matt's music career had took off and a couple months after Dave and Julie had left for their roadtrip he had moved to Queensland, coming back only for special occasions

"Look what we found in the parking lot" Jake says as him, Rachel, Chel, and the twins come into the room behind Matt

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" They hear again from behind them as they see Frankie come rolling through the door in a wheel chair "I figured this must be the party room"

"Well I wanted it to be a surprise" Matt says as he turns to look at Frankie "Besides I heard I have a new great niece and nephew and I wasn't going to miss that"

"Wow y'all have a big family" the shift nurse says as she walks into the room later as everyone is still sitting around the room

"And it's only gotten bigger" Sammy says laughing as she looks down at Maddison in her arms as she exchanges a grin at Frankie who is holding Noah


	15. Chapter 15

"She's crying again" Sammy says with an exhausted sigh as she looks over to where Nathan is asleep on his stomach "your turn" she says as she rubs his back waking him up

"I thought I got her last time" Nathan says as he stumbles across the dark room before heading into the room across the hall from them

"Just try to calm her down before" Sammy starts to say before seeing Edward standing in the doorway to her and Nathan's room with his teddy bear dangling from his hand "she wakes Edward up"

"Is she crying again?" Edward says looking at Sammy as he rubs his eye tiredly as he walks over towards Sammy's side of the bed as she flips on the lamp on the nightstand beside the bed

"Yea baby she is" Sammy says as she lifts Edward up onto the bed as he leans into her side "I'm sorry she woke you up"

"Can I help?" Edward says giving a concerned look on his face as he looks up at Sammy as she smiles down at him

"No I don't think so buddy" Sammy says as she looks down at him "You haven't felt like we've been distracted from you lately have you, since we've been busy with Maddison"

"I just want to help" Edward says looking at her "can I sleep in here with you and daddy tonight, it can be my turn next time she cries"

"You know you are a very smart little boy" Sammy says as she kisses him on the head "And that is a very sweet gesture"

"Honey I think she needs something that I can't provide" Nathan says as he comes back to the doorway of their bedroom

"Okay well there's a bottle in the fridge" Sammy says as she gets an idea as she sees Nathan with a confused look

"But why do we need to use one of the bottles when you can" Nathan says as he leans against the doorway looking at her "that's alot of effort to put foward"

"Cause we're going to let Edward feed her" Sammy says as she gives Nathan a mischevious grin as Edward smiles up at her

"We are" Nathan says as Sammy gives him a look "I'll just go get that bottle ready" he says as he walks down the hallway toward the kitchen

"Just make sure you're supporting her head" Nathan says a little while later as Edward is sitting between him and Sammy

"And just tilt the bottle up a little more" Sammy says as she helps to hold the bottle in place

"I got her" Edward says giving them a look as they both tiredly smile down at him

"Okay come on sweet girl" Sammy says the next morning as she picks Maddison up off the changing table "While Daddy and Edward are out on a run, you and I are going to take a cake over to the new neighbor" Sammy says as she straps Maddison into her front carrier before grabbing a cake container off the kitchen counter

"Okay now you be a good girl" Sammy says looking at Maddison as she knocks on the neighbors door as the door opens as she begins to look back up "Hey I'm your neighbor from" Sammy starts to say

"Sammy?" The woman at the door starts to say as Sammy is trying calm Maddison as she starts to look back up at her

"How did you know my name?" Sammy starts to say before she starts to recognize the woman standing at the door "Chrissy?"

"Well I just wanted to bring some cake over" Sammy says a few minutes later as she walks into Chrissy's house as she sits down at her kitchen table "So how long have you been back?" she says as she adjust Maddison

"I just got back here the other week" Chrissy says as she puts on the kettle "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Yea that would be great" Sammy says as she still looks at Chrissy a little bit in shock that she's actually there

"So who is this little cutie" Chrissy says as she walks back over to the table as she slides a chair over next to Sammy

"This is Maddison" Sammy says as she unhooks Maddison from her carrier "Would you like to hold her?"

"Of course" Chrissy says as Sammy hands Maddison to her "She is just so beautiful" she says as she smiles down at the little girl

"So let me make sure that I have this straight, y'all did end up getting divorced, but now your back together" Chrissy says later as her and Sammy are sitting in the backyard as Chrissy is still holding Maddison

"Yea everything was kind of crazy back then, but things are great now" Sammy says as she smiles at her "And speaking of which" she smiles as she sees Nathan come through the gate to the backyard still in his running clothes as he pushs Edward in his jogging stroller

"Hey what's going on I got your message" Nathan says as he leans over to give Sammy a kiss on the forehead before looking at the other woman sitting at the table "Chrissy?"

"You two should have seen your faces when you first saw me" Chrissy says as she looks at both Sammy and Nathan who are now sitting at the table

"Well to be fair you did throw us off" Nathan says as he bounces Edward on his knee "We haven't seen you in years"

"Yea it's been a crazy last few years" Chrissy says as she looks at them "But it's just nice to be back now, who would have thought that we would end up as neighbors" she says as she smiles at them "So how is the rest of the family"

"Well it sounds like the families really grown" Chrissy says a while later as she takes a sip of tea

"And it's shrunk some too" Nathan says as he looks at Chrissy as Sammy looks at him as she is walking Maddison around the yard "Granddad passed away about a year ago, and Mel was killed in a car accident a little over nine years ago"

"Oh that's terrible" Chrissy says as she looks at him "But thanks for filling me in on everything before I went around sticking my foot in it"

"Um honey" Sammy says as she looks at Nathan "Maddison is getting kind of fussy we probably should get ready to go"

"Yea and I need to go get ready, I have a meeting at work this afternoon" Nathan says as he stands up "I would give you a hug" he says as he sees Sammy give Chrissy a hug "But I stink from my run"

"Oh that's fine" Chrissy says smiling at him "And if you ever need a babysitter, I would be more then happy to watch these sweeties" she says looking at Edward and Maddison in their parent's arms

"Might just take you up on that offer" Sammy says looking at her "If nothing else so we can get some sleep" She says as her and Nathan exchange a tired look

"I still don't know how I handled Edward when he was a baby on my own" Nathan says as he looks at Chrissy and then at Sam "Well actually I do, I had mum and dad" he says as him and Sammy start to head for the gate "Speaking of which you should come around and see everyone sometime"

"I might just do that" Christy says as she smiles and waves goodbye to them as they exit the backyard


	16. Chapter 16

A few days later Nathan comes into the house as he throws his bag into a chair as Sammy walks into the living room and throws her arms around Nathan's neck "Hello handsome" she says as she gives Nathan a kiss

"Hey" Nathan says as he kisses her back "What's going on?" he says noticing that she has a nice dress on

"We are going out tonight" Sammy says as she gives him a mischevious grin "Just the two of us, as soon as you get changed"

"Wait what about the kids?" Nathan says as he gives her a confused look back as Sammy grin just keeps growing

"I took Chrissy up on her offer" she says as she starts to lead Nathan toward the bedroom for him to get changed "She said can watch them as long as we need her too"

"What I'd like to know is who reviews movies these days" Sammy says as her and Nathan walk out of the movie theater

"Yea I think I lost a few brain cells watching that" Nathan says as he exchanges a look back at Sammy "So what now?"

"Well we have as long as we want" Sammy says smiling at him "How about we go get some dinner and see where the night takes us"

"That sounds great" Nathan says as he kisses her before walking down the street from the movie theater

Back at Nathan and Sammy's house a while later Chrissy quitely closes the door to Edward's bedroom, once the kids had started to get tired she had used the key that Sammy had given her and bought them home to sleep in their own beds

"Okay darling, we just need to stop here for a few minutes" Julie says as her and Ruby are outside of Nathan and Sammy's house "I need to get something from your brother" she says as they start to get out of the car

As Chrissy gets done checking on the kids she gets ready to sit down on the couch when she hears a knock at the door "figured they would stay out later then that" she says assuming that it is Nathan and Sammy

On the other side of the door Julie is talking to Ruby when the door starts to open as she turns around she develops a shocked look on her face "Christy?" she says as Chrissy gives her an equally suprised look

"So this is Ruby" Julie says as they walk into the house "I think the last time you saw her she was still in my belly"

"Yea you don't realize how many years it's been till you think that she's nine now" Chrissy says as the three of them sit down on the couch

"So how long have you been back in town, what's been going on, how was Queensland, just have all these questions"  
Julie says as she grins at Chrissy

"I'm not sure where to even start at" Chrissy says as she grins back at Julie

"You know, I might just go over to the boat club, think Ben's working tonight" Ruby says, with everything being within walking distance, as she senses that Julie and Chrissy want some alone time to catch up

"Well if your sure darling" Julie says as she looks over at her "going to get Ben to bring you home?"

"Yea I got it" Ruby says as she gets off the couch as she heads toward the door "Besides I think tonight is decade's night, and why would I miss seeing Ben in a pair of parachute pants"

A couple hours later Julie and Chrissy are still sitting on the couch laughing "I feel like a teenager again, just sitting here, laughing, having girls time"

"Yea this has been great, just the two of us" Chrissy says as she smiles at her "It's been way to long since we've talked"

Meanwhile in the car out on the street, the windows are fogged up as Nathan and Sammy are laughing inside "I think we're getting to old for this, we're not 21 anymore" Sammy laughs as her and Nathan have the seats layed back

"True, but I still think we're young anothe" Nathan says as he leans back into give her another kiss "besides we could have got a room for the night"

"It wouldn't have been fair to leave Chrissy with the kids all night" Sammy says as they lean in for a more passionate kiss "maybe we should take this inside" she says looking at Nathan

Nathan picks up what she is implying as he looks down "Yea maybe we should do that" he says agreeing

As they make their way to the door still cuddleing, Sammy is kissing Nathan's neck, as half of Nathan's shirt is already undone "Sammy hold on I got to get the key" Nathan says trying to get his keys out of his jeans pocket

When they open the door they give a look like they've been caught as they see Chrissy and Julie sitting in the living room as Nathan positions Sammy in front of him

"So I'm guessing date night went well" Chrissy says looking up at them as Nathan and Sammy start to blush

"I thought you were keeping the kids at your house" Sammy says trying to break the silence

"Well they started to get tired and I figured they would be more comfortable in their own beds" Chrissy says looking at her

"What are you doing here mum?" Nathan says as he looks at Julie still standing behind Sammy

"Well nice to see you too darling" Julie says looking at him "I came by to get that book from you for Ruby's class"

"Yea it's just in our bedroom" Sammy says as she starts to walk away to get it as Nathan pulls her back

"Don't step away" Nathan says as he motions his head downward "I can bring it around tommorw" he says as he looks back at Julie

"And Maddison and Edward are asleep then?" Sammy says as she looks at Chrissy giving Nathan another look

"Yea they've been down for a couple hours now" Chrissy says as she looks at them "Maddison cried once but I got her settled back down, and haven't heard anything out of Edward"

"That's great well I think we're just going to go to bed too" Nathan says looking at Sammy

"Yea, I'm beat, we had a really long day" Sammy says as her and Nathan go across the living room, turning into a brisk walk as they go down the hallway

"Did you see the look on their faces?" Julie laughs as she looks at Chrissy "As a parent you never get tired of seeing them embarressed"

"I'm not even a parent and it's still funny" Chrissy says as she smiles back at her "Maybe we should finish catching up at my house though"

At the boat club Ruby is sitting on a stoll as everyone is running around in the large crowd that is at the club for decades night

"Here is your berries and creame smoothie madum" Lexi says as she hands Ruby a glass "Sorry it took so long"

"Lexi we need some more beer" Emily says as she is standing at the other side of the bar "Can you run down to the celer and grab some"

"Is the same guy drinking it?" Lexi says walking over closer to Emily as Ruby jumps down off the stool as she walks over to see what their talking about

"Yea I think he's under the assumption that the more he drinks, the more attractive he'll be" Emily says smiling at Lexi before her and Lexi both turn to Ruby "Ruby if any guy ever trys that with you when you get older, just run" Emily says smiling at Ruby

"I'll keep that in mind" Ruby says as she smiles back at them "Hey what happened to Ben, haven't seen him in a while"

"He's in there somewhere" Emily says looking into the crowd "Hopefully he hasn't got trampled" she says as they continue to look at the crowd

"What are you doing?" Ruby says later as Ben dunks down behind the bar as Ruby gets down off the stool joining him on the floor

"I'm taking my break" Ben says as he looks over at Ruby "hopefully if I hide back here then no one will see me, by the way you can stay at my place tonight, I'll call mum when things get settled down more, I'm already shattered, much less feel like taking you home afterwards"

"Okay well that's fine with me, but I need to ask you something" Ruby says as she slides over closer to Ben

"Sure what is it?" Ben says as he rubs his head before making eye contact with his sister

"What do you know about Chrissy?" Ruby says as she looks at him "The only reason I'm asking is her and mum where talking and laughing earlier tonight like they had known each other a long time"

"Wait Chrissy's back" Ben says looking at her as Ruby gives a questioning look at Ben's reaction "Um her and mum where good friends, but when mum was pregant with you they had some sort of falling out, mum never talked about it much"

"Well they seemed pretty happy to see each other tonight" Ruby says looking at him "that's why I came here, to give them some space"

"And I thought it was because you wanted to see your faviorte brother" Ben says giving her a half grin

"Who said your the faviorte" Ruby says giving him a joking look back "maybe Nathan's my faviorte"

"Yea but you did say my name first" Ben says as he gets back up off the floor to continue working

"Only because your name was shorter" Ruby says defending herself as Ben starts to head back out into the crowd


	17. Chapter 17

"So what do you think Ben would want for his birthday?" Emily says the next morning as her and Ruby are in the kitchen at Ben's apartment fixing breakfast

"How would I know that?" Ruby says as she looks at Emily with a confused look

"Ah come off it, aside from having a few of Rachel and Nathan's personality traits, your basically a mini Ben" Emily says as she looks back at Ruby

"Yea but still don't know exactly what he would want" Ruby says looking at her "This is my plan" she says referring to fixing breakfast "Your pushing it close for getting him something though, his birthday's tommorw"

"Yea I just want it to be perfect, it's his first birthday that we've been together" Emily says as she smiles at Ruby "And if I hadn't got here when I did Ben may have had a burned down apartment,  
or food poison from you"

"Ha look who has all the jokes" Ruby says as she gives Emily an offended look "Let's just take this to him" she says grabbing the tray of food

"See that face, the comment, all Ben" Emily says laughing as she follows Ruby towards Ben's bedroom

"Happy Early Birthday!" Ruby says as her and Emily walk into Ben's bedroom as Ben is starting to wake up

"What's all this" Ben says as he sits up in the bed as he takes the tray of food as Ruby hands it to him as she crawls across onto the bed as Emily sits down on the bed

"I made you breakfast in bed, and Emily helped some with it too" Ruby says as she looks at him grabbing a piece of toast off the plate"

"Hey I thought you made this for me" Ben says giving her a defensive look as Ruby takes a bite of toast

"Making all of it made me hungry" Ruby says looking at him as she takes another bite out of the toast

"Well thank you both" Ben says as he gives Ruby a hug and then Emily "this looks great"

Meanwhile at Nathan and Sammy's house, Nathan is hurrying to get his stuff together for work "I'm going to be so late for the meeting" he says looking at Sammy who is sitting on the bed

"Well you have to admit last night was pretty nice" Sammy as she gives him a grin before hearing Maddison cry from her room

"Yes it was" Nathan says as he smiles as he gives her a kiss "But I really need to go though" he says walking out of the bedroom door as Sammy goes into Maddisons room

Later that evening everyone is gathered at Dave and Julies house to celebrate Ben's birthday with a cookout, Ben is standing in the kitchen with Nathan "So you walked in and there was mum and Chrissy"

"Oh yea" Nathan says giving him a look as he grabs a chip from the bowl in front of him

"And you were incapacitated" Ben says giving him a look trying not to laugh "I'm sorry mate but that's hilarious"

"Oh I was just praying that Sammy wouldn't move from in front of me" Nathan says giving a look at his brothers reaction

"What's going on" Rachel says as she walks into the kitchen with Mila on her hip as she takes a chip out of the bowl

"Mum caught Sammy and Nathan in the process of getting prepared for um bedroom activities" Ben says smiling as he tells her "And apperently Nathan was very much turned on" he says as he grins back at Nathan

"I'm sorry little bro, but that is funny" Rachel says as she starts to let out a laugh as she readjust Mila

"Well it's good to know that I have y'alls support in my most embarrassing moments" Nathan says as he continues to give his siblings a look

"What's so funny in here" Ruby says as she enters the kitchen where her other siblings are standing, as her siblings all look at each other before looking at her

"Um we'll tell you when your older" Nathan says smiling as he pats Ruby's head before him, Ben and Rachel grab food to take into the backyard

"Mate how did it go today" Carbo says walking into their house the next day as Retta follows in behind him

"Again Uncle Ben, again" They hear from the other room as Ben comes running in with Sadie clinging to his back

"It's my birthday, and yet she's the one getting rides" Ben says as he sees Retta and Carbo

"Come here honey" Retta says as she takes Sadie off of Ben's back "let's give uncle Ben a break" she says putting Sadie down as she runs upstairs

"So we're still going tonight right mate?" Carbo says as him and Retta look at Ben "And your parents are watching the kids"

"Yea that's still the plan as far as I know" Ben says as he looks at them "But can we meet at the boat club, I have to work on a few things but it shouldn't take very long" he says as Sadie comes back down the stairs

"Uncle Ben, Melissa and I made you this" Sadie says as she holds up a paper as Ben takes it from her

"Well that is very sweet" Ben says as he sees that it is a hand drawn birthday card "thank you very much" he says as he bends down to give Sadie a hug 


	18. Chapter 18

"I told you they would be here" Julie says the next morning as her and Dave come through the door at Carbo and Retta's as Ruby comes through behind them with all of the kids in tow

"Oh wow look at this place" Ruby says as she walks into the living room where there is a mess and Rachel, Jake, Nathan and Sammy are asleep sprawled out on the couch, Ben and Emily are laying on the floor, Frankie and Coby are asleep on the stairs, and what could only be assumed that Carbo and Retta and Emma and Buzz are upstairs "looks like something exploded in here"

"Yea can you go get some headache pills from your grandma" Dave says looking at Ruby "we're going to need plenty of them, and take the kids with you and see if she'll watch them, till we can nurse the hangovers some"

"Yea but can I wake them up when I get back" Ruby says giving an evil grin as Dave starts to push her out the door

"So from what I can figure, the family cookout was boring in comparison to what happened last night"  
Ruby says as she sits at the table at Chel's house

"Well it may not seem as exciting this morning" Chel says giving her a reassuring look "But these might help" she says handing her headache pills "So how long do I get to watch the little ones?"

"If I had to guess probably a couple hours, the way it looked" Ruby says as she gives Chel a smile "This is going to be fun" she says with a sigh as she gets up to leave

As Ruby walks back into the house she grins as she starts to see some movement in the living room as she starts to open her mouth Dave runs in throwing his hand over her mouth

"You almost had just three kids again" Dave says as he walks back into the kitchen with Ruby as Julie is bringing food over to the table

"Well thank you for that, and you be nice" she says as she looks at Ruby "apperently they had a long night" she says as Ruby looks at her with a disappointed look "breakfast is about ready though"

Ignoring her parents Ruby gets a grin on her face again "I'll go let them know" she says running back into the living room

"No Rubs" Dave starts to say but hears Ruby screaming that breakfast is ready as she runs through the house, this followed by groans and threat's, espically from her siblings

"No you can't kill your sister" Julie says again as she brings some juice over to the table where her three oldest children are still giving her a look "besides we sent her back next door"

"Clearly for her protection" Ben says looking at his mum as he blinks letting out a groan again as he rubs his head

"Yea why can't we be in on getting her" Carbo says as he looks up at where Ben, Nathan and Rachel are looking at him

"Because she's our sibling, meaning only we get a chance at her" Rachel says as she looks at him

"We get in on it being related by marriage though right" Sammy says as she looks over at Nathan

"Sorry honey, but it has to be siblings by birth" Nathan says as he rubs her back "And you can't hide her forever, we know where she lives"

"Well if we're done talking about killing Ruby, can we just eat breakfast" Julie says as she looks at everyone

"Besides we don't even need to kill her" Rachel starts to say "We can just take her out when she turns 18 and then scream at her the next morning, that should plenty of payback, espically if it's like when I turned 18" she says taking another sip of juice

"My heads still killing me" Emily says as she walks behind the bar at the boat club as Ben is standing behind the counter

"No, you are not allowed to complain about how your feeling, I have to work a double with a spliting headache and a rash that's been iching all morning" Ben says as he gives Emily a look

"I'm sorry" Emily says trying to defend herself "I didn't know you could have the cider that sweet, and you had already downed the bottle before you realized it"

"Hey but I have something that might make it all better" Emily says as she gives Ben a smile "I have something special planned for tommorw, I booked us in for a hot air ballon ride, just the two of us"  
she says as she starts to walk away as Ben gives a distressed look once she's gone back out onto the floor 


	19. Chapter 19

"So how did everything go with the big suprise today?" Emma says as he and Emily walk into the kitchen at Carbo's as Carbo and Retta stand in the kitchen getting some ice cream as they hand bowls to Emma and Emily

"Well I don't know to be honest" Emily says looking at Emma as she takes a bite of her ice cream

"What do you mean?" Retta says as she joins the girls at the counter "Didn't you have fun?" she says sitting down at the bar stool on the other side of Emily

"Well it started of great, or so I thought, but Ben seemed distracted" Emily says as she looks at them

"So what was the suprise, you never told us what you were doing" Retta says as she looks at Emily

"I booked us in for a hot air ballon ride" Emily says as she looks as Carbo exchanges a look at Retta and Emma as she continues "I thought it would be a fun thing to do"

"Where's Ben at now?" Carbo says as he looks at Emily as he gives a distracted look

"I dropped him back off at his apartment, he said that he was done in and was going to bed" Emily says looking at Carbo "And your not saying anything" she says giving Carbo a look

"What's going on?" Retta says as her and Emma also give a look to Carbo as he continues to stand there looking at them

"Well Retta doesn't even know this, since it happened a few months before we met but" Carbo starts to say as the girls look at him

Later Emily slips in the door of Ben's apartment as she walks through the darkness into Ben's bedroom as she slides onto the bed as she wraps her arms around him "I am so sorry"

"Huh" Ben says as he starts to wake up "What are you talking about?" he says as he reaches up to turn on the bedside lamp as he looks back over at Emily who is still cuddled up to him

"Carbo told me everything" Emily says as she sits up on the bed beside Ben "It explained why you seemed distracted today, all I wanted was to do something special for you"

"It's okay, there was no way for you to know" Ben says as he looks at Emily picking up on what she knows "Did he tell you about the waterbed?"

"What about a waterbed?" Emily says giving Ben a questioning look as he smiles down at her

"So anyway, Carbo thought that it was a great idea" Ben says later as him and Emily are still relaxing in the bed "But by the end of it wasn't so romantic as it made us sick, ended up sleeping on the floor" Ben says as he smiles down at Emily

"Well I'm glad you told me about it" Emily says as she smiles up at him "I just wish that you had told me all this before we went there, could have came up with another idea"

"I'm sorry it's just sometimes it's hard for me to bring up things about Mel" Ben says looking at her "though clearly that's why I have Carbo to fill everyone on things that are going on"

"You never talk about her much, and that's okay and I would never want to push you into talking about her" Emily says as she looks up at him

Just then Ben looks down at Emily, as his face softens more "So you want to hear some more stories"  
he says feeling like he is ready to open up to her

"Of course, if you are" Emily says smiling as she cuddles in closer to him as she repositions herself

"I can't believe we've been up all night" Ben says as he looks at the clock beside his bed then back over at Emily a few hours later "And that you let me talk your ear off about Mel"

"I'm glad you trusted me enough to open up about it" Emily says looking up at him "those were some great stories" she says noticing Ben is giving her a look "I know Mel is always going to be a part of you, and I would never want to change that about you, it's part of what makes you special and I love you"

As she gets finished speaking Ben looks down at her, that had been the first time either of them had said those words, but now looking down into Emily's eyes he felt it was the right time "I love you too"

"Well we don't have to be at work to later" Emily says looking at him "maybe we should get some sleep"

"Yea I'm really tired" Ben says smiling at her as they both begin to lay down in the bed as the cuddle together before falling asleep 


	20. Chapter 20

"Well do you want my honest opinion on the whole thing" Ruby says looking at her friend Bella a few weeks later as they walk up the steps at the boat club as they head for a picnic table throwing their bookbags to the side

"I'm sure your going to give it to me anyway" Bella says looking up at Ruby as she sits down on the other side of the table

"I think that he's just not mature enough to be with you" Ruby says looking at her "besides girls tend to mature faster then boys, I have two brothers that I'm still waiting on to mature, and their both in their 30's"

"So that just means I need to give him about 20 more years" Bella says as she gives a smile to Ruby before they hear a crash looking up to see a guy frantically trying to pick up some broken glass off the ground "And who is that"

"It must be the new guy Ben said they hired" Ruby says looking in the direction of the guy before looking over to see a smile on Bella's face "Don't even think about it, he's 15, and I don't think your parents would go for that considering your 11"

"I might could persuade them" Bella says looking at Ruby who is giving her a doubtful look "maybe not"

"On the bright side at least he's closer to maturty then Liam" Ruby says referring to the guy that Bella is currently in persuit of "At least he didn't stick grapes up his nose at lunch yesterday, and possibly one being still in there blocking air from getting to his brain"

"Okay you've made your point, I know you don't like him" Bella says looking at her "And besides there's more important things to discuss, like what your doing for your birthday, and what you want"

"What I want is to be done with this monster of a research project" Ruby says as she pulls some papers out of her bookbag "And you and I still need to pick a country to research"

"Well why don't we just ask one of your siblings, I thought you said all of them were overseas at some point when you were younger" Bella says as she looks at Ruby as she also grabs some stuff out of her bookbag "that's one advantage that you have over me, I'm an only child"

"I wouldn't be too envious, we have our off days" Ruby says looking at her "And I have thought about that,  
though I would probably ask Ben or Rachel, London's kind of a sore spot for Nathan, from the whole saskia thing"

"Oh apperently he wasn't fast enough to hide the evidence" Bella says looking up seeing Ben walking out with a couple waters for the girls, while the guy is still trying to pick up the pieces of glasses as Ben sits the water on the table giving Ruby and Bella an annoyed look before walking over to the guy

"I wouldn't get to excited, it's just Ben, now if it was Donna that's when you would see fireworks go off" Ruby says looking at Bella as Ben starts to walk back over to the picnic table sitting down beside Ruby

"I'm about to kill that kid" Ben says as he rubs his head "That makes 14 glasses that he has broke"

"No your not" Ruby says standing up behind him as she starts to rub his shoulders "Because first your to nice for that, and secondly if that threat held any value I would have been dead a long time ago"

"Well getting a shoulder massage does help magic fingers" Ben says looking back at Ruby as she continues to rub his shoulders "So what's all this?" he says looking at the papers scattered on the picnic table

"Class project" Bella says looking at him "A very big class project, that counts for most of our grade"

"And with that in mind a have a question" Ruby says giving Ben a sneaky look "We have to do it on another country"

"So this whole shoulder message was just to butter me up" Ben says giving Ruby a look as she pops him on the back before sitting back down at the table "Yea I'll help you, just come around sometime tommorw, I have the day off" he looks back at the paper again "At least backyard cricket that we're having for your birthday will take the presure off after the project is over" he says looking at the due date for the project

"Yea and Bella is going to play with us to this time" Ruby says looking at Ben before giving a smile at Bella

"You really want to play backyard cricket with our family" Ben says looking at Bella "Well your in for an adventure, that's all I can say"

Meanwhile at Carbo and Retta's, Emma is walking down the stairs carrying a box as Retta follows down the stairs as Melissa and Sadie come running down the stairs behind their mom

"And your sure you have everything" Retta says as she follows Emma to the door as she opens it for her

"Yes I'm sure" Emma says as she starts out the door "And don't you have a new housemate to help get settled in" A couples weeks earlier Buzz had proposed to Emma, and she was now moving in with him and Jackson, as Emily was moving in with Carbo, Retta and the girls

"We are going to miss you though" Retta says as she gives her a hug "But I am so happy for you though"

"I'm only moving a few minutes away, I'll still see you all the time at work" Emma says as she gives Retta a look "I better get this over to the house though"

After seeing Emma off Retta heads back upstairs walking into what is now Emily's room where Melissa and Sadie are sitting on the bed as Emily is hanging up clothes in the cloest "Looks like you have plenty of help" Retta says as she sits down joining her daughters on the bed

"Yea they've been a big help, haven't you girls" Emily says as Melissa and Sadie giggle as they smile back at her

"Well we're happy to have you here" Retta says as she stands back up giving Emily a hug before helping her to put more things in the closet

"Yea somehow I think Carbo may be a bit more excited that since I'm moving in, that's means Ben is going to be spending more time around here" Emily says as Retta looks at her as they let out a laugh


End file.
